{"id":14305,"date":"2019-01-16T09:27:31","date_gmt":"2019-01-16T08:27:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.diedruckerei.de\/magazin\/?p=14305"},"modified":"2025-05-19T10:11:02","modified_gmt":"2025-05-19T08:11:02","slug":"rotate-pdf","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onlineprinters.ie\/magazine\/rotate-pdf\/","title":{"rendered":"Rotating PDFs: Adjusting the view and format in a breeze"},"content":{"rendered":"

Your PDF file is upside down, shows white edges or does not have the desired size? No problem! In our practice guide, we will show you how to rotate PDF documents quickly and easily \u2013 with or without an online tool.<\/p>\n

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Adobe Acrobat is the first stop for most users who want to rotate their PDF. If you don’t have a Creative Cloud subscription, you will usually try the free Acrobat Reader which is installed on most devices. But this program does not provide the required functions. Read on to learn how to rotate your PDFs nevertheless.<\/p>\n

Rotating PDFs \u2013 non-permanent view rotation<\/h2>\n

There are two ways to rotate the pages of a PDF document in Adobe Acrobat. You have to distinguish between the\u00a0view rotation<\/strong>\u00a0and the\u00a0permanent<\/strong>\u00a0rotation<\/strong>\u00a0of the page. The problem with the first method is that the PDF rotation is not retained after saving, closing and reopening the document.<\/p>\n

The Rotate View function is useful, for instance, when a vertical flyer includes one page in landscape orientation (e.g., a reply that fits into a DL envelope) which should be left unchanged but is inconvenient to read, e.g., for the proofreader. To remedy this, open the\u00a0View<\/span>\u00a0menu in Acrobat, choose\u00a0Rotate View<\/span>\u00a0and choose either the icon for 90\u00b0 clockwise rotation or a 90\u00b0 counter-clockwise rotation. The free Acrobat Reader also offers this command but not the following function for a permanent solution:<\/p>\n

Rotating PDFs \u2013 for view only and permanently<\/h2>\n

With the second approach, the pages are rotated permanently and output accordingly. You will find the corresponding command in the\u00a0View<\/span> menu\u00a0\u00b7\u00a0Tools<\/span>\u00a0\u00b7\u00a0Organize Pages<\/span>\u00a0\u00b7\u00a0Open<\/span> if the toolbar is not displayed. The so-called secondary toolbar includes the page range where you can enter the page number or range to rotate. You can also select the pages to be rotated in the thumbnail view: To do so, press the\u00a0Shift key<\/span>\u00a0to select consecutive pages or use the\u00a0Control key<\/span>(Ctrl) to select multiple, single pages. Subsequently, click on one of the two\u00a0rotation icons<\/span>\u00a0next to the page range entry.<\/p>\n

\"Screenshot<\/a>
You can rotate one or more pages directly in the thumbnail view.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The page is rotated in 90\u00b0 increments without quality loss. To rotate single pages, move the mouse over the corresponding page. Two rotation buttons<\/span> are displayed on the page thumbnail view\u00a0which you can click.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
The page is always rotated in 90\u00b0 increments. Just click the rotation icon in the page window \u2013 clockwise or counter-clockwise.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Straighten pages<\/h2>\n

Frequently, scanned pages have to be rotated by a few degrees only. Acrobat Pro DC provides a function which automatically straightens the scanned document. To do so, open the View<\/span>\u00a0menu, choose\u00a0Tools<\/span>\u00a0and\u00a0Enhance Scans<\/span>\u00a0\u00b7\u00a0Open<\/span>.\u00a0The\u00a0Enhance<\/span>\u00a0command then appears in the bar above the page. Select\u00a0Scanned Document<\/span> and make further enhancement settings in the bar below. Click\u00a0Enhance<\/span>\u00a0to start the correction function which straightens the page or removes stripes and creases. Unfortunately, it is not possible in Acrobat Pro DC to rotate individual pages by a custom angle.<\/p>\n

Rotating pages with Acrobat Reader?<\/h2>\n

If you work with Acrobat Reader, you can only rotate the page view temporarily as described above. Similar to the zoom function, Acrobat Reader will rotate the view only but print the original format. So users of Acrobat Reader have to use third-party tools if they want to rotate pages permanently.<\/p>\n

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Caution, source of errors! The commonly used free Acrobat Reader does not allow pages to be rotated permanently. Always upload correctly aligned files to the print shop.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Online services such as smallpdf.com<\/strong> are a quick and comfortable alternative to rotate PDF files and usually provide a number of other functions to edit, convert or extract content. Moreover, they don’t have to be installed and can be used directly in your browser.<\/p>\n

However, some users may feel a bit uneasy about uploading their data on the server of the provider. Alternatively, you can work with a locally installed tool. Below, we will take a closer look at the two options.<\/p>\n

Online services<\/h2>\n

The free online services include<\/p>\n